UN holds emergency meeting on Taliban’s crackdown on women
GE-NEVA MAY 13 HINDUSTAN TIMES The UN Security Council held emergency closed consultations Thursday on the Taliban’s latest crackdown on Afghan women as it considered a presidential statement that would express deep concern at the new ban by Afghanistan’s rulers on women leaving home “without necessity” and wearing head-to-toe clothing when they do go out in public.
The Taliban who came to power last August, have turned back the clock in Afghanistan to their harsh rule from 1996 with girls and women still the main target.
In addition to Saturday’s new order on leaving home and clothing, girls in Afghanistan are now banned from going to school beyond the sixth grade, women are barred from most jobs and from boarding planes if they travel unaccompanied by a male relative, and men and women can only visit public parks on separate days.
Norway’s deputy U.N. ambassador Trine Heimerback told reporters before the council meeting that the Taliban’s policies are focusing on oppressing women and girls rather than addressing the country’s “catastrophic economic and humanitarian situation,” which she warned may lead “to violence and radicalization.”